Mekong River

Coming from south Orange county in California, I really miss quality Phở. It’s everywhere there. So my only option in downtown Austin is to try Mekong River… but you know what? Every time I try to go there, the place is closed… I’ve tried six times now during the lunch hours… anywhere from 11:30 to 2pm. Today, too. It was closed… WTF! I don’t even want to give a single star… but I need to in order to post this review. So sad!

Finally got around to trying this in my search for good Austin Phở. It delivered with some nice flavorful broth. Only downsides were I wished it had a tad more meat, but I’m guessing you can order double meat. Also server seemed to have the whole place to himself which with average business seemed to leave him a bit too busy with tables.

Decent phở to get me trough a cold winter day at work. The soup was so hot that it melted away the plastic cover of my styrofoam container.

Sick and bed-​ridden with strep throat, I tried to call for delivery and was informed that they can’t deliver because they don’t have enough staff to run the restaurant and deliver, despite advertising delivery service… Get it together, guys.

I had the worst experience at this restaurant. The place is dirty, smelly and the floor sticky. The staff isn’t very friendly and made me wait for 15 minutes even though I had called half hour before to order my to go lunch. Food was gross. Tasted like re-​heated leftovers and smelled dirty. I had to toss everything after a few bites. I wouldn’t recommend to anyone to get in there. Sorry.

Arrived for my one-​hour lunch break with my dad at 11:35. Had to wave someone down to seat us. Got our seats, found that our silverware was dirty. Faaantastic. Traded in our silverware, and ordered our entrees and spring roles. At 11:55ish got our spring rolls, which were OK but the peanut sauce was so strange! It was really acidic and weird. At 12:15 still no entrees, so we paid for our spring rolls and left.
Why it took over 40 minutes for our plates when the restaurant was mostly empty, I have no idea. I would hope at least that the waiter would check in on the food and give us updates from time to time, but I guess no such luck. And after it took so long, I’m surprised that we even paid for the spring rolls.
I really liked Mekong River before it renovated, but now it just looks like a dirty dance club. I wish I could review the food, but forty minutes of my lunch break later, I didn’t get the opportunity.

The store is out of business. Don’t go.
I am very shocked to learn that they are not in business any more despite app listing.

Andy and his wife Tina came to Austin on Wednesday from San Antonio and asked me to joined them for lunch at Mekong River. Andy had a Phở while Tina ordered Udon Tom yum, I stayed with my favorite pork and roll. The restaurant was busy with several big groups but our foods arrived as expected in time.
We all love this place and we will meet again on next Friday for friends reunions, the bad thing is we can not reserve the private space upstairs as requested for 15 people in my group!

I am so bummed, they have discontinued the best things on the whole menu– their curries (particularly the coconut curry). Everything else I have had is just… meh.
Back to Thai Passion for lunch I guess…

A strange dining experience as I have ever had. I thought I might be in a hidden camera sketch. That would have been a better explanation.
I was thrilled that I had found a phở spot within a couple blocks of my office. But it didn’t take more than a few seconds before I knew this was not the place I was looking for. As I walked in, I quickly understood that this is a club first, thrown-​together restaurant second. They don’t even try to hide the fact that the first priority here is the club. The mulit-​colored club lights strobed brightly throughout the meal. The wait staff acted like they were better trained to bounce the rowdy or spin up a fast drink.
The food, like the experience, seemed an afterthought. Palatable, but not enjoyable. The meat, the little there was in my bowl, was tough. Generally flavorless all around.
And to top it off, I go to pay and the waiter informs me that the delivery driver took off with their ONLY card reader. I could wait until he got back, but with a meeting coming up, I was thankful my friend had cash on hand. Not that I should have paid for that meal anyway.

This place has really gone downhill. Sure the prices are still cheap from before the reopening, but the portions have halved from before. The pork and shrimp vermicelli came with three overcooked shrimp the size of a quarter (not an exaggeration). The phở beef comes in thick overcooked chunks and is near impossible to chew through. The place stinks of mop water and I found my food and water unpalatable due to its permeating smell.
The service was unacceptable. One of the waitresses’ idea of service was barking «follow!» and «ready!» to the guests. She also made a visibly snarky face when we requested separate checks. The waitress uniforms lack class (traditional asian style top, except as a backless halter top). I saw them spraying down tables with cleaner without removing the condiment bottles (that could explain the smell over everything).
Sorry Mekong River, you need to step up your game. We could use a decent Thai/​Vietnamese option in downtown Austin.